Inside  The  Bible  House 

7^ 


NEW  YORK 

AMERICAN  BIBLE  SOCIETY 

1907 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2019  with  funding  from 
Columbia  University  Libraries 


https://archive.org/details/insidebiblehouseOOunse 


Inside  •  The  •  Bible  •  House 

•  •  • 


The  Contrast  Between  Outside  and  Inside 

The  Bible  House  in  New  York  is  a  solid  brick  building  out¬ 
wardly  suggestive  of  age  and  of  quiet,  easy  unconcern  toward 
the  busy  life  of  the  streets.  Few  contributors  to  the  work  of 
the  American  Bible  Society  have  very  clear  ideas  about  what  goes 
on  inside  of  those  walls.  The  very  word  “work”  so  often  used  in 
reports  and  letters  from  the  field,  is  a  good  deal  like  the  cloth  of  a 
favorite  old  coat — worn  smooth  and  glistening  with  use  until  none 
of  its  former  characteristics  remain  to  inform  the  eye.  Doubtless 
many,  especially  those  living  at  a  distance,  are  curious  to  know  just 
what  makes  up  the  daily  occupation  of  Bible  Society  workers  in 
that  quaint  old  building.  We  invite  all  such  to  enter  to-day  with 
us  and  look  about  for  themselves. 

Once  inside  the  building  one  will  find  any  idea  of  easy-going, 
unconcerned  quiet  quickly  driven  away.  The  workers  have  the  con¬ 
strained  look  of  pressing  activities.  The  workshops  thrill  with  the 
quick  throb  of  machinery,  and  with  the  fine  eagerness  of  trained 
laborers.  Perhaps  the  contrast  between  outside  calm  and  inside 
action  may  remind  one  of  a  like  contrast  found  in  some  great  river, 
ages  old  between  its  banks,  unostentatious,  and  apparently  subdued 
and  quiet,  and  yet  holding  in  its  depths  strong  motion;  power  to 
move  many  mills,  to  bear  much  tonnage  of  shipping,  and  to  render 
noble  service  to  many  people.  You  feel  that  the  Bible  House  is  a 
place  of  power. 

Preparing  Work  for  the  Society 

Take  the  elevator  at  the  Ninth  Street  entrance  and  fly  up  to  the 
fifth  floor.  Turn  to  the  right  and  you  enter  a  great  room  sixty  feet 
long  and  thirty  feet  wide,  filled,  except  for  narrow  alleyways,  with 
paper  in  large  square  piles.  Each  great  sheet  of  paper  bears  printed 
upon  it  many  pages  from  the  Bible.  On  some  piles  the  pages  are  few 
and  large,  with  large  type;  on  some  the  pages  are  many  and  small, 
with  small  type ;  and  on  some  the  words  are  in  strange  languages. 
Women,  sometimes  singing  as  they  work,  are  endlessly  counting  and 
arranging  these  printed  sheets,  and  two  or  three  men  are  perpetually 
wheeling  them  away  on  trucks.  It  seems  a  work  that  may  easily 
weary  one  by  its  drudgery,  but  so  is  every  part  of  the  process  by 
which  sheets  of  white  paper  are  taken  into  one  door  of  the  Bible 
House  and  transformed  into  finished  volumes  of  Scripture  which  go 

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forth  into  the  world  from  another  door  at  the  rate  of  300  volumes  for 
every  working  hour,  day  after  day,  week  after  week,  month  after 
month,  year  after  year. 

A  like  wearisome  drudgery  appears  in  the  next  great  room,  where 
the  compositors’  wooden  cases  occupy  the  space,  and  men  are  picking 
up  one  type  at  a  time  and  setting  it  in  its  place  in  the  composing 
stick,  and  so  building  up  from  the  little  bits  of  metal,  words,  and 
sentences,  and  pages.  The  same  sort  of  patient  drudgery  appears  at 
the  proofreaders’  desks,  where  the  whole  force  of  the  men  goes  into 
detection  of  errors ;  and  on  the  next  floor  below,  where  men  pile  the 
sheets  to  be  pressed  flat  and  smooth;  where  others  feed  the  sheets  into 
jaws  that  bite  them  in  two,  a  hundred  at  a  time,  and  where  the  half 

sheets  are  handed  to  wise  machines 
that  take  them  with  a  knowing  twist 
and  almost  instantly  hand  them  out 
into  the  trough  below,  folded,  with 
each  page  facing  its  fellow,  ready 
for  the  girls  who  patiently  gather 
all  the  sheets  needed  to  make  up  a 
volume  and  pass  them  on  to  other 
girls  who  deftly  sew  them  together. 
You  see  the  same  small  drudgery 
on  the  third  floor,  where  the  space 
is  occupied  by  many  curious  ma¬ 
chines  and  work-benches,  and  where 
men  cut  the  pasteboard,  or  the  cloth, 
or  the  leather  for  the  covers.  Some 
paste  the  covers,  some  emboss  them 
and  letter  them;  some  trim  the  leaves  of  the  volumes,  some  round 
the  backs;  and  so  on  through  the  long,  delicate  process,  until  the 
parts  of  the  book  are  brought  into  place  and  the  finished  volume 
lies  before  you  neat,  clearly  printed,  and  attractive,  as  the  Book  of 
God  should  be.  Pass  on  down  to  the  pressroom  on  the  second  floor, 
with  its  great,  clattering,  rumbling  printing  machines.  There,  too, 
men  are  doing  the  merest  drudgery — handing  the  large  white  sheets 
to  the  mouth  of  the  machine,  in  order  that  it  may  take  hold  of  the 
paper  with  its  teeth,  draw  it  in  out  of  sight,  and  quickly  send  it  forth 
below,  sharply,  beautifully  printed  in  pages  with  the  words  that  are 
for  the  healing  of  the  nations. 

The  Invisible  Part  of  the  Story 

The  visible  part  of  the'story  of  making  these  books  is  the  taking 
of  infinite  pains  in  trifling  and  tiresome  acts  of  drudgery.  This  is 
typical  of  all  work  done  in  the  Bible  House.  Yet  to  workers  who  are 
Christians  there  is  an  invisible  part  to  the  story.  A  good  old  minis¬ 
ter  once  comforted  a  discouraged  saint  by  saying,  “Even  the  disciples 
at  Bethphage  who  went  to  get  that  donkey  were  doing  work  for  Jesus 

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Christ.”  To  those  who  love  Jesus  Christ,  during-  this  slow  drudgery 
of  making  the  Book  vision  comes  of  what  the  Book  will  do  for  the 
world.  That  beautiful  reference  Bible  in  flexible  morocco  covers  will 
be  the  life  companion  of  some  faithful  pastor  of  the  flock.  That 
large  Pulpit  Bible,  when  it  has  gone  to  its  church,  year  after  year 
will  guide  the  thoughts  of  a  worshiping  congregation  to  life  in 
Christ.  Those  little  Bibles,  just  being  inspected  before  they  are 
wrapped  for  shipment,  will  permanently  shape  the  lives  of  Sunday- 
school  children  because  given  them  in  their  impressible  years.  That 
little  Gospel  which  can  go  into  a  vest  pocket  will  be  taken  home  by  a 
rough  man  from  a  revival  meeting,  the  instrument  in  God’s  hands  of 
saving  a  life  from  corruption  that  had  already  set  in.  Vision  of  re¬ 
sults  glorifles  the  drudgery  of  labor  in  all  departments  of  the  work  of 
the  Bible  Society  because  all  deal  with  the  book  which  has  a  mission 
appointed  by  God  himself.  By  making  Bibles  at  the  lowest  possible 
cost  consistent  with  good  workmanship,  the  Bible  Society  fosters  a 
great  work  of  Bible  distribution  at  home  and  abroad,  through  its  own 
Agents,  and  through  missionary  or  other  societies  supplied  with 
Scriptures  at  the  actual  cost  of  production.  The  greatness  of  this 
boon  to  missions  is  little  understood.  Yet  it  stamps  the  work  of  the 
Bible  Society  through  this  manufacturing  department  with  a  charac¬ 
teristic  named  by  Jesus  Christ  as  marking  his  own  work.  Through 
this  busy  group  of  workshops,  “to  the  poor  the  Gospel  is  preached.” 


The  Executive  Department 

Every  separate  shop  in  the  Manufacturing  Department  of  the 
Bible  House  has  at  its  head  a  skilled  master  in  its  special  branch  of 
the  work;  a  Superintendent  sees  that  the  shops  work  accurately, 
harmoniously,  and  uninterruptedly  together ;  and  finally,  the  Treas¬ 
urer  of  the  Bible  Society  is  General  Manager,  controlling  the  work, 
paying  the  bills,  and  taking  over  the  product  as  an  executive  officer 
of  the  Board  of  Managers  of  the  Bible  Society.  Thought  and  skill 
direct  the  whole  process  of  making  books.  Keen  desire,  not  to  com¬ 
pete  with  others,  but  to  secure  the  best  results  at  the  lowest  cost  and 
greatest  profit  to  all  men,  possesses  all  concerned.  Questions  of 
popular  demand,  of  taste,  of  proportion  of  the  page,  of  type,  paper, 
a,nd  binding  are  continually  brought  to  the  Secretaries,  who  are  com¬ 
monly  supposed  to  be  strictly  executive  and  administrative  officers, 
absorbing  a  notable  amount  of  their  time  in  this  preliminary  work. 
For  the  making  of  books,  notwithstanding  the  important  place  which 
it  holds  in  the  activities  of  the  Bible  House,  is  but  preparation  for  the 
real  work  of  the  Bible  Society.  This  will  be  seen  if  you  come  into 
the  Bible  House  by  the  main  entrance  on  Fourth  Avenue.  Here  you 
are  in  the  midst  of  the  Executive  Department. 

Beyond  the  glass  doors  which  face  the  entrance  is  the  Committee 
room.  At  the  long  table  in  this  room  the  standing  committees  of  the 

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Board  of  Managers — on  Finance,  on  Agencies,  on  Versions,  on  Auxil¬ 
iaries,  on  Distribution,  etc. — wrestle  with  the  great  problems  of  Bible 
translation,  manufacture,  and  circulation,  hearing  continually  the 
cry  for  more  books  that  comes  literally  from  the  four  quarters  of  the 
globe,  and  doing  what  can  be  done  with  means  always  too  meager. 
After  discussion  in  committee  these  problems  are  acted  upon  by  the 
Board,  which  meets  the  first  Thursday  of  every  month  in  the  Man¬ 
agers’  room,  a  beautiful  assembly  hall  on  the  second  floor,  opposite 
the  head  of  the  main  staircase.  The  decisions  of  the  Board  are  then 
left  to  the  executive  officers,  who  are  two  Corresponding  Secretaries, 
a  Treasurer,  and  a  Recording  Secretary,  to  be  put  into  execution  in 
the  whole  world-wide  field  of  the  Society.  Their  preparation  for 
this  work  is  love  of  it  and  special  knowledge  of  all  its  parts. 

The  Treasurer 

The  door  on  the  left  as  you  go  into  the  main  entrance  hall  of  the 
Bible  House,  gives  access  to  the  mail-order  room,  the  salesroom,  the 
packing  room,  and  shipping  office.  These  all  are  sections  of  the  De¬ 
pository,  witli  its  stock  of  Scriptures  in  many  languages,  and  in  the 
curious  raised  letters  for  the  blind.  All  of  them  are  under  the  imme¬ 
diate  supervision  of  the  Treasurer,  and  in  all  of  them  busy  clerks  are 
perpetually  writing  the  invoices,  and  the  records,  and  the  accounts 
that  have  to  be  kept  in  order  to  show  what  becomes  of  every  book 
added  to  the  stock  or  taken  from  it. 

The  door  on  the  right  of  the  entrance  hall  leads  to  the  Treasurer’s 
private  office  and  the  counting  room.  These  offices  are  as  quiet  as  a 
bank.  Their  fittings  and  equipment,  and  paraphernalia  of  records, 
and  ledger  accounts,  and  vouchers,  and  bills,  are  like  those  of  any 
business  house,  for  the  processes  by  which  money  is  accounted  for 

are  generally  much  the  same 
the  world  over.  But  here  these 
processes  are  not  quite  color¬ 
less.  This  office  has  financial 
relations  with  every  state  in 
the  Union.  On  its  books  are  en¬ 
tered  the  doings  of  those  long- 
robed  printers  in  Constantino¬ 
ple,  Beirut,  Bangkok,  Shang¬ 
hai,  and  Yokohama,  who  are 
printing  more  than  a  million 
volumes  a  year  of  Scriptures 
for  the  Society;  drafts  drawn 
here  are  cashed  in  Cuba,  in 
South  America,  in  Japan,  or  in 
South  Africa  ;  and  the  account  of  moneys  paid  includes  details  of  the 
work  of  eleven  foreign  agencies,  besides  those  in  the  United  States, 
as  well  as  picturesque  bills  of  materials  for  book  manufacture;  from 

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tools,  iiiacliiiiery,  and  paper  by  the  ton,  to  glue,  and  needles,  and 
thread.  In  this  department,  too,  are  kept  the  accounts  of  the  Bible 
House  itself,  for  the  Bible  Society  occupies  only  about  half  of  the  build¬ 
ing,  and  the  rent  of  rooms  oc¬ 
cupied  by  business  firms  it  care¬ 
fully  husbanded,  so  that  they 
shall  cover  the  expenses  of 
the  building  and,  furthermore, 
yield  a  surplus  to  pay  the  sal¬ 
aries  of  the  executive  officers. 

No  contributions  for  the  gen¬ 
eral  work  of  the  Society  are 
used  for  repairs  of  the  build¬ 
ing,  taxes,  insurance,  or  for 
salaries  of  the  executive  of¬ 
ficers;  nor  do  any  of  these  ex¬ 
penses  serve  to  increase  the  cost  of  the  Scriptures  here  manufactured. 
The  variety  of  these  transactions  suggests  the  qualities  demanded  in 
the  Treasurer. 

Stringent  rules  govern  the  Treasurer’s  office.  A  warrant  from  the 
Finance  Committee  is  drawn  for  every  payment,  and  every  check 
signed  by  the  Treasurer  is  countersigned  by  a  Secretary  who  has 
examined  the  warrant.  Every  cent  that  passes  through  the  office 
leaves  its  mark,  so  that  all  transactions  can  be  traced.  Thus  the 
financial  situation  of  the  Society  can  be  seen  at  any  time,  although 
this  requires  more  experience  than  is  acquired  in  a  village  store;  for 
these  complicated  accounts  cover  Bible  translation,  manufacture,  and 
distribution  by  sale  or  gift  in  two  hemispheres.  The  Treasurer’s  daily 
duty  is  to  hold  all  branches  of  the  finances  of  the  Bible  Society  in  the 
masterful  grasp  of  his  mind.  For  this  reason,  he  can  act  toward  the 
Society  somewhat  as  the  governor  does  to  a  steam  engine ;  if  the  rate 
of  progress  is  too  rapid,  so  that  the  appropriations  tend  to  exceed  the 
receipts,  it  is  his  duty  to  give  warning,  so  that  the  speed  may  be  re¬ 
duced.  Contributions  from  churches,  Sunday  schools,  and  indi¬ 
viduals  fix  the  pace  at  which  Bible  work  advances.  They  are  given 
for  increasing  the  circulation  of  the  Bible,  and  they  are  sacredly  and 
immediately  applied  to  that  one  purpose. 

The  Secretaries 

The  great  problem  ever  confronting  the  Society  is  the  problem  of 
using  all  opportunities  for  taking  the  Scriptures  to  those  who  need 
them,  at  home  and  abroad.  So  great  is  this  problem  that  when  any 
society  or  any  individual  takes  up  Bible  distribution,  with  or  without 
the  co-operation  of  the  American  Bible  Society,  its  advent  into  this 
vast  field  is  hailed  with  delight.  To  promote  this  one  work  the 
Society  exists,  and  all  connected  with  it.  The  Society  is  in  some  de¬ 
gree  responsible,  in  each  of  its  widely  differing  fields,  for  providing 

7 


millions  of  people  with  the  Scriptures,  notwithstanding  obstacles 
special  to  each.  In  the  Secretaries’  rooms  on  the  second  floor  of  the 
Bible  House  are  the  letters,  documents,  and  other  sources  of  informa¬ 
tion  about  Bible  circulation  in  the  whole  field  of  the  Society. 

To  plan  for  the  supply  of  destitute  villages  in  the  Unites  States  or 
destitute  empires  in  Asia;  to  know  in  detail  the  elements  of  the  whole 
problem,  to  place  them  lucidly  and  accurately  before  the  members  of 
the  Board  of  Managers,  and  then  to  give  effect  to  their  decision,  is 
the  duty  of  the  Secretaries  of  the  Bible  Society. 

Commonly,  details  of  the  work  are  divided  between  the  two  Corre¬ 
sponding  Secretaries ;  one  becoming  by  long,  careful  study,  a  specialist 
in  matters  relating  to  China,  and  the  other,  on  the  situation  in  the 
Levant,  etc.,  etc.;  one  on  the  Southern  States,  and  the  other,  on  the 
Northern ;  and  so  on.  This  expert  knowledge  of  fields  and  their  needs, 
makes  the  Secretaries’  rooms  the  scene  of  frequent  and  important  con¬ 
ferences  with  missionaries ;  with  masters  of  language  who  co-operate 
with  the  Society  in  Bible  translation;  with  pastors  and  leaders  of 
thought;  with  agents  of  the  Society;  and  with  visitors  who  come  to 
express  kindly  sympathy,  to  learn  what  is  being  done,  or  simply  to 
see  something  of  the  process  of  printing  Bibles.  This  part  of  the 
duty  of  the  office  absorbs  time,  but  is  of  great  importance.  A  simi¬ 
larly  important,  and  little  known,  duty  of  the  Secretaries,  is  that  of 
reporting  progress  and  needs  at  the  great  meetings  of  the  denomina¬ 
tional  Assemblies,  Conferences,  or  Associations,  or  of  the  Auxiliary 
Societies;  or  even  of  single  churches,  which  beg  for  a  speaker  to  come 
and  talk  about  Bible  work.  These  calls  to  go  out  of  the  city,  and 
perhaps  half  way  across  the  continent,  have  to  be  met.  But  the  ful¬ 
fillment  of  this  duty  in  such  a  way  as  to  bring  no  harm  to  other 
equally  pressing  duties  of  the  office  is  often  perplexing,  to  say  the 
least.  Moreover,  no  one  can  have  an  intelligent  interest  in  the  work 
of  the  Bible  Society  who  is  without  information  about  its  details. 
The  writing  out  of  this  infor¬ 
mation  is  another  of  the  duties 
of  the  Secretaries.  They  gather 
the  material,  plan  and  edit  the 
Bible  Society  Record^  the  pon¬ 
derous  Annual  Report,  and  the 
leaflets  or  booklets  that  tell  in 
briefer  form  the  story  of  the 
Society’s  work  from  month  to 
month  and  year  to  year. 

The  lighter  correspondence 
of  the  Secretaries  is  of  great 
volume.  Every  year  the  min¬ 
isters  of  a  score  of  ’denominations  have  to  be  informed  by  letter 
about  the  work  and  needs  of  the  Society  ;  some  thirty  thousand  life 
members  must  be  told  by  letter  the  things  that  especially  interest 

8 


them  ill  the  experiences  of  the  Society  to  which  they  belong.  The 
mails  bring  letters  from  all  points  of  the  compass  which  touch  the 
springs  of  many  and  various  emotions,  presenting  needs,  hopes, 
petitions  for  Bibles,  requests  for  information  upon  specific  points; 
individual  difficulties  presented  to  a  Bible  Society  Secretary  as  to 
a  pastor,  and  many  other  matters  not  dreamed  of  by  those  who 
gaze  at  the  Bible  House  from  the  outside.  All  such  letters  are  to 
be  answered  kindly,  helpfully,  and  as  promptly  as  the  process  of 
intelligently  reading  the  mass  will  allow.  But  aside  from  this  the 
mail-carrier  at  any  moment  may  lightly  toss  upon  each  Secretary’s 
desk  a  letter  which  in  ten  lines  raises  questions  that  require  days  of 
labor  for  mastery  of  their  elements,  or  that  demand  clear  interpreta¬ 
tion  of  vague  and  confused  details  before  the  Board,  and  even  before 
the  churches,  on  whose  contributions  the  work  of  the  Society  depends. 

The  Call  of  Our  Own  Land 

The  hope  of  reaching  a  point  where  all  the  destitute  in  the  United 
States  will  at  last  be  supplied  with  Bibles  can  never  come  true  until 
children  cease  to  reach  the  Bible-reading  age  each  year,  and  immi¬ 
grants  who  never  saw  a  Bible  cease  to  land  on  our  shores  each  week. 
Ignorance  of  the  first  principles  of  right  and  duty  is  a  fiood  that 
always  threatens  the  land.  The  barriers  against  it  raised  by  general 
instruction  in  the  Bible,  can  never  be  finished.  Like  Holland’s  dykes 
against  the  North  Sea,  these  barriers  must  be  added  to,  and  strength¬ 
ened,  and  extended  every  year,  or  catastrophe  is  certain.  In  our 
cities,  as  well  as  in  the  farming  regions;  in  the  remote  mountain  dis¬ 
tricts  ;  in  the  mining  regions ;  in  the  forests  of  the  lumbermen ;  on 
the  river  steamers ;  along  the  canals  and  the  coasts  of  the  ocean ;  even 
in  the  Sunday  schools  of  our  own  neighborhood,  are  numbers  who  do 
not  have  and  do  not  read  the  Bible.  Probably  over  fifteen  millions 
of  people  in  these  United  States  are  living  without  the  Bible,  shaping 
their  lives  by  “unwritten  law,”  which  makes  for  anarchy  and  ruin. 
The  duty  of  finding  means  of  impressing  this  inert  mass  of  people 
ever  weighs  upon  the  minds  of  the  Secretaries  of  the  Society, 

Lack  of  Money  for  the  Work 

A  thorny  element  of  the  problem  before  the  Bible  Society  is  the 
question  of  money  to  do  work  which  ought  to  be  done.  The  duty  of 
discrimination  between  degrees  of  need  hampers  every  proposal  for 
supply  of  Bibles  or  of  extension.  A  natural  impulse  is  to  grant  every 
request  for  books.  But  if  this  were  done  indiscriminately  many 
Bibles  would  be  tossed  aside  with  other  acquisitions  that  cost  nothing, 
many  would  be  sold  for  the  price  of  a  drink,  and  nearer  districts 
would  be  certain  to  get  a  larger  proportion  of  Bibles,  while  those 
more  distant,  however  needy,  would  be  left  in  disappointment,  like 
the  cripple  of  Bethesda  who  always  found  someone  else  stepping 
down  into  the  pool  before  him  at  the  moment  of  blessing.  A  perpet- 

9 


ual  free  distribution  is  impossible,  and,  if  possible,  might  be  foolish 
waste.  The  rule  followed  by  the  Society  is  to  fix  prices  at  cost,  so  that 
no  one  shall  pay  more  than  the  cost  of  the  books,  to  require  payment 
of  cost  where  this  is  possible,  to  grant  books  at  less  than  cost  where 
there  is  ability  to  pay  something,  and  to  give  without  cost  where  one 
who  really  wants  a  Bible  cannot  raise  the  few  cents  needed  to  pay  for 
it.  The  lack  of  money  may  never  prevent  a  Bible  lover  from  possess¬ 
ing  a  Bible. 

Auxiliary  Societies  that  Die 

Auxiliary  and  other  local  Bible  societies  are  doing  a  great  work 
in  canvassing  their  own  fields,  to  learn  and  supply  needs.  Any  soci¬ 
eties  or  individuals  who  order  books  to  sell  again,  receive  the  help  of 
ten  per  cent  discount  from  catalogue  prices.  Where  it  is  necessary, 
their  work  is  further  aided  by  the  National  Society.  These  facts  open 
another  line  of  duties  laid  upon  the  Secretaries.  Applications  for 
Scriptures  from  the  field  of  one  of  the  Auxiliary  Societies  are  referred 
to  that  society.  But  sometimes  an  applicant  who  is  so  referred  re¬ 
plies  in  an  aggrieved  tone;  he  feels  that  his  need  was  mocked;  he 
cannot  find  the  local  auxiliary.  It  then  comes  to  light  that  local 
Bible  societies  sometimes  lose  vitality  with  age  and  die.  For  such 
cases,  the  National  Society  has  decided  that  where  any  auxiliary  fails 
during  three  successive  years  to  report  active  operations,  it  must  be 
warned  that  without  activity  it  cannot  retain  the  name  of  a  fellow- 
laborer.  It  is  the  delicate  duty  of  the  Secretaries  to  convey  this 
warning  in  such  a  way  as  to  quench  no  smoking  flax,  and  at  the  same 
time  to  end  a  situation  which,  if  hopeless,  is  unendurable.  After  a 
reasonable  delay,  if  there  is  still  no  response,  the  Secretaries  report 
the  fact  to  the  Managers,  and  the  name  of  the  dead  society  is  erased 
from  the  list  of  auxiliaries. 

The  Burdens  of  the  Foreign  Field 

The  question  of  Bible  circulation  is  more  complicated  abroad,  if 
possible,  than  at  home.  Numbers  are  enormous,  distance  is  greater, 
opportunities  are  insistent,  and  the  language  difficulty,  with  its  steady 
call  for  new  translations,  is  only  one  of  many  discouraging  hin¬ 
drances.  The  danger  is  always  present  of  waste  of  means  by  spending 
money  where  it  is  not  really  needed ;  that  is  to  say,  in  a  field  where 
another  Bible  Society  works  well.  A  man  comes  full  of  enthusiasm 
with  a  new  version  of  the  Bible  which  he  has  made,  himself,  in  a 
language  of  Africa,  and  he  almost  demands  that  the  American  Bible 
Society  shall  publish  his  translation  at  once.  The  Secretaries’  knowl¬ 
edge  shows  that  the  Scriptures  have  been  translated  already  into  that 
same  language,  and  have  been  published  by  another  Bible  Society. 
Or  another  good  man  comes  to  the  Bible  House  with  a  request  for  a 
thousand  Bibles,  which  he  wishes  to  circulate  in  a  missionary  cam¬ 
paign  abroad.  The  Secretaries’  grasp  on  the  whole  situation,  at  home 

10 


and  abroad,  shows  that  tho  place  to  which  he  wishes  to  carry  the 
Bibles  is  already  ellicieiitly  canvassed  by  agents  of  the  British  Bible 
Society.  Economy,  as  well  as  common  Christian  courtesy,  must  lead 
the  American  Society  to  refuse  both  of  these  requests,  referring  the 
men  interested  in  them  to  the  sister  society.  Only  thus  can  the  Sec¬ 
retaries  fulfill  the  trust  committed  to  their  charge,  for  endless  waste 
and  confusion  would  result  if  Bible  societies  should  disregard  each 
other.  If  the  reader  can  bring  the  implications  of  such  incidents  of 
daily  experience  within  the  field  of  his  imagination,  he  can  see  that  a 
Secretary’s  daily  mail  is  not  to  be  disposed  of  at  a  sitting,  and  his 
day’s  work  is  not  compassed  by  the  four  walls  of  his  office,  nor  lim¬ 
ited  by  the  click  of  his  stenographer’s  untiring  writing  machine;  it 
deals  with  a  throng  of  the  greatest  interests  of  mankind  in  four  con¬ 
tinents. 

Every  day  councils  of  the  Secretaries  and  the  Treasurer  are  made 
necessary  by  some  pleasing  or  distressing  occurrence  reported  from 
near  or  from  far.  Often  a  new  phase  of  Bible  circulation  forces  its 
irrepressible  demands  or  its  difficulties  upon  the  attention.  These 
the  Secretaries  carry  in  their  minds  wherever  they  go  until  new 
plans  are  invented,  ruminated  in  night-watches,  prayed  over 
in  the  closet,  meditated  in  railroad  trains  and  at  the  office  desk; 
beaten  into  shape  in  conversation;  discussed,  analyzed,  searched  for 
flaws,  and  given  form  in  Committee  and  Board  room;  cautiously 
tested  in  the  field,  with  misgivings  and  with  close  watch  for  weak 
spots  that  practical  use  alone  can  reveal.  These  crucial  times  of 
advance  and  of  new  adaptation  are  the  times  that  whiten  a  man’s 
hair.  For  such  momentous  decisions  shape  a  world- wide  campaign 
whose  results  constantly  effect  the  extension  of  the  Kingdom  of 
Christ  and  have  issue  beyond  this  life  in  eternity. 

The  Spiritual  Influence  of  the  Work 

Nothing  visibly  distinguishes  the  commonplace  drudgeries  of  the 
manufacturing  department,  or  of  the  Treasurer’s  duties  from  those 
of  a  business  whose  object  is  to  increase  profits  and  dividends.  So, 
too,  little  may  visibly  separate  the  daily  work  of  the  Secretaries  in 
the  Bible  House  from  the  work  of  experts  placed  in  charge  of  any 
great  enterprise.  But  the  work  done  in  the  Bible  House  has  special 
and  notable  characteristics,  some  of  which  have  been  already  sug¬ 
gested.  Its  aim  is  to  benefit  mankind  in  a  way  that  God  has  chosen. 
Its  support  comes  from  the  people  at  large  who  believe  in  this  aim, 
and  whose  throbbing  hearts,  full  of  love  for  the  Bible  and  desire  for 
the  Divine  blessing  on  all  engaged  in  circulating  it,  make  themselves 
felt  through  letters  that  daily  flutter  in  upon  the  Bible  House  desks. 
The  money  contributed  to  the  work  of  the  Society  is  the  fruit  of 
self-denial,  and  is  dedicated  in  prayer  by  thousands  of  Christians 
from  Maine  to  Alaska,  from  Dakota  to  Texas,  from  Turkey,  China, 

11 


Japan,  Mexico,  South  America,  and  many  other  lands.  The  expecta¬ 
tion  of  the  donors  is  that  their  dollars  and  dimes  will  have  direct 
result  in  advancing  the  Kingdom  of  Christ.  Every  cent  received 
by  the  Treasurer  is  a  sacred  trust,  of  which  account  has  to  be  ren¬ 
dered  to  God,  as  well  as  to  the  auditors  who  monthly  examine  ex¬ 
penditures.  The  peculiarity  of  this  feature  of  the  work  is,  that  these 
gifts,  sent  in  with  touching  words  of  consecration,  stir  spiritual  life 
and  devotion  in  all  connected  with  it;  for  all  are  fellow-workers 
with  an  uncounted  host  of  godly  people,  whose  aim  is  to  forward 
the  execution  of  God’s  merciful  purpose  toward  men. 

Give  Ye  Them  to  Eit 

The  ever-pressing  task  before  the  Society  then,  is  the  same  task 
that  worried  the  disciples  as  they  looked  at  the  hungry  crowd  on  the 
hills  beyond  Lake  Tiberias.  The  Master’s  word  of  instruction,  “Give 
ye  them  to  eat,”  always  stands  as  the  command  to  his  followers,  but 
the  Master’s  intervention  too  is  always  sure  to  be  repeated  when 
courage  and  resource  seem  about  to  fail.  The  empty  treasury,  with 
which  each  year  begins,  always  somehow  furnishes  provision,  and 
those  who  see  this  wonderful  result  of  Divine  interposition  are  made 
strong  in  their  faith  with  thanksgiving.  The  Christian’s  single  token 
of  success  is  some  such  positive  crown  of  blessing  bestowed  upon  the 
work  of  his  hands  and  his  faith.  And  this  task  of  the  American 
Bible  Society  is  divinely  appointed,  divinely  assisted,  and  daily  di¬ 
vinely  crowned. 


The  Door  of  a  Million  Bibles 

Thus  we  come  back  to  the  power  that  goes  out  of  the  old  building, 

of  which  we  have  been  trying  to 
explain  the  place  in  the  work  of 
Bible  circulation.  The  door  of  the 
shipping  office  at  the  Bible  House, 
by  the  side  of  the  workmen’s  en¬ 
trance,  performs  a  service  which 
makes  it  worthy  of  the  attention 
of  angels.  It  has  all  the  familiar 
marks  of  doors  of  shipping  offices 
anywhere — battered  side-posts, 
polished  iron  shute,  boxes  on  the 
sidewalk,  marked  with  names  that 
seem  taken  haphazard  from  a  gazet¬ 
teer  ;  rough-looking  truckmen  go¬ 
ing  in  and  out,  and  clerks  check¬ 
ing  off  lists.  But  every  book  that 
goes  out  of  that  door  is  the  fruit  of  faith  and  prayer.  The  prayerful 
support  of  hundreds  and  thousands  of  Christians  has  made  the  work 
possible,  and  the  prayers  of  the  Society,  the  officers  and  other  work- 

12 


ers;  prayers  of  consecration,  prayers  of  entreaty  for  wisdom,  and 
prayers  of  humble  acknowledgment,  mark  every  stage  of  the  work 
which  places  Bibles  among  men  whose  path  will  thenceforth  be 
lighted. 

This  circumstance  makes  this  humble  door  of  the  shipping  office 
a  point  of  immeasurable  importance,  although  no  inscription  calls 
attention  to  the  mighty  influences  which  it  sends  forth.  From  that 
door  go  out  every  year  about  a  million  volumes  of  Scriptures — Bibles, 
Testaments,  and  portions.  Each  volume,  because  it  contains  the 
gospel  of  a  new  life,  carries  with  it  the  blessing  and  the  promise  of 
the  Most  High,  ‘^My  word  shall  not  return  unto  me  void,  but  shall 
prosper  in  that  whereto  I  have  sent  it.”  For  this  reason  that  narrow 
doorway  is  a  point  of  profound  significance  to  the  growth  and  well¬ 
being  of  the  United  States  and  of  many  other  lands.  It  were  well 
if  all  who  pass  by  might  know  it  as  it  is — the  Door  of  a  Million 
Bibles. 


THE  SALESROOM 


‘•f. 


